Denver and Aurora were both been informed yesterday of a class action lawsuit to be filed in U.S. District Court, state of Colorado for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. A restraining order was also requested and and an order granted (3/11/10) to prevent either city from discriminating against disabled persons having service dogs of a banned breed in their cities. One person named in the lawsuit is a disabled gulf war veteran whose service dog is a registered UKC American Pit Bull Terrier. Doug Kelly, Manager of Denver Animal Control, refused to license the dog and told the owner he could either get rid of the dog or move out of Denver. The dog was licensed in previous residences in California and Arizona as a service dog. Another veteran who owns a house in Aurora had his pit bull mix seized by animal control as a banned breed, despite his pleas that it was his service dog. The dog was only released from the pound upon his agreeing to send the dog out of the city of Aurora and pay fines. This person can't afford to sell his home and move, but he needs his service dog with him. A friend is keeping her east of Aurora but this veteran has been denied his right to his service dog in his home. He must depend on friends to help him and visits to his service dog to try and keep his life stable. Both these veterans have written prescriptions from their VA doctors for the dogs. Another disabled person who wanted to stay in Denver with her American Pit Bull Terrier while visiting her sister in the city and attending UKC events in the area was told by Doug Kelly, Manager of Denver Animal Control, in no uncertain terms that he would not be issuing her any permit for her service dogs. Wake up Denver and Aurora! You cannot deny people their service dogs no matter what breed they are. You are breaking federal law and now it will come back to bite you in the posterior!

More updates as this lawsuit progresses. Permission granted to cross post. We want the word to get out!

I am proud to say that in one of our most conservative and "old fashioned" provinces we have a city with an AMAZING animal control policy and bylaw - they have stepped up enforcement and bite-education and have seen results! Calgary continues to use a "deed not breed" plus education stance with huge success!

I'm hoping places like Denver in Canada can look to Calgary (and maybe cities, counties, and states in the US, too )

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07

​A federal class-action suit involving disabled Coloradans -- two war veterans with psychological disorders -- and their service animals was filed Tuesday against Aurora, the City and County of Denver and its head of Animal Control.

The two veterans, and another disabled woman from out of state, say Denver's controversial pit-bull ban doesn't make exceptions for service dogs and their owners and is therefore a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The issue of service dogs has been in the news of late. Yesterday, we told you about a Colorado Springs attorney who was ordered to pay $50,000 for purportedly violating the Americans with Disabilities Act when he barred a disabled woman and her service dog from entering his office because he was worried the dog might soil his new carpet. He refutes this assertion and claims to have settled for "economic reasons."

But pit bulls add a new twist to the service-dog issue.

The suit's plaintiffs, represented by Wheat Ridge-based Animal Law Center, are asking for exemptions in the controversial pit bull ban for disabled citizens and more than $75,000 in damages from the municipalities and the head of Denver Animal Control, Doug Kelly, who has taken heat over the years for his support of the ban.

The lead plaintiff on the suit, Allen Grider, is a 59-year-old Vietnam veteran who says he needs his dog, seven-year-old "Precious," to help him manage his severe post traumatic stress disorder. But in November, Aurora Police seized Precious, who Griber says isn't even a pit bull, under the city's ban and placed her in a shelter.

"I am a combat marine, so if you smurf with me too much, you'll be looking down the barrel of a marine," he says. "When I come in and I have PTSD and I'm mad about something, she won't leave me alone -- she'll calm me down until she can climb in my lap and give me kisses."

"I'm more the pit bull than she is," he claims. "I tried to tell them that."

Precious was kept at the shelter for ten days before being released to Grider's friend, who lives in another city without a pit bull ban. Calls to Aurora's Animal Care division and Denver's Animal Care and Control have not yet been returned. We'll update this blog if and when they provide comment.

Glenn Belcher, a Gulf War veteran who moved to Denver with his pit bull last year, and Valerie Piltz, a disabled woman staying with her sister in Denver, are also plaintiffs in the suit; both of them actually own pit bulls as service animals.

Precious, who is actually a chocolate lab and boxer mix, was rescued from a shelter to help Grider cope with his condition per a recommendation from a doctor. Her main duties include going ahead of him into rooms to let him know if there are groups of people or warning if someone is at the door of his Aurora home. But Grider says when she was taken away he lost more than his prescribed service dog -- he lost his greatest companion.

"They really messed me up. When she wasn't here, I wasn't able to sleep, I wasn't able to do nothing. I had a really hard time," Grider says. "And that's just exactly what she is -- precious. She never bit nobody, she's never running wild, she's not vicious. You come in my house, and she'll lick you to death before she'll bite you."

Grider is pleased that Precious is back home with him now, where tomorrow she'll celebrate her seventh year in his home. But he says the ordeal has left them both a little wounded. "She's not the same. I gotta train her again. They messed her up bad," he says.